DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
The present invention relates to coin-operated vending machines and, more particularly, the locking mechanism for the coin-receiving portion thereof. Vending machines have allowed purveyors to widely distribute their goods to consumers at numerous, often remote locations without the need to incur expenses relating to, for example, overhead and personnel. Such features are particularly attractive when the merchant desires to sell small, low profit-margin products widely used by numerous consumers who desire the convenience of obtaining these goods readily during their daily routines.
However, with such widespread use of coin-operated vending machines, the merchant must be able to rely upon the sturdiness of the apparatus to protect both the commodity to be dispensed and the currency deposited therein. This is particularly true for vending machines such as, for example, those used for the dispensing of newspapers which are typically located on numerous street corners throughout a city. Thus, vandalism and theft become real concerns for the merchant.
Those vending machines currently available have not proved satisfactory in providing a measure of safety to the merchant who must often rely upon rather inadequate locking mechanisms or modify the apparatus to render it tamper-proof.